Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Don't name that thing!

Today I was having lunch in cafeteria at work and was facing the glass panel.  As I looked outside, I saw some people coming towards the cafe, green grass and some trees.  Then JK's questions came to my mind.  Once JK had asked young kids 'Can you look at the tree without naming it?'.
So I was trying to see if that it possible.  But before that, what does it mean to look at a tree (or anything for that matter) without naming it? My interpretation is to make sure knowledge does not become the hindrance.  And I found it very very hard.  You see, as soon as you look at the tree, you first perceive it as a "tree" immediately you know it is "green", it has "branches" and its "bark is brown" and so on.  So all this is accumulated knowledge.  These thoughts come rushing to you so fast that it becomes almost impossible to look at the tree without naming it.

Taken in a slightly different context, I gathered that looking at a thing without naming it means to be aware of our deep conditioning and get rid of it.  Consider you know someone who has betrayed you.  The moment you come across that person, memory acts faster than thought and you automatically hate that person.  Memory has conditioned you so deeply that you don't even realize it! So in essence what JK is saying is that can you stop that process? Can you avoid reliance on the memory?

Seen another way, this is a form of meditation.  Getting rid of memory, thoughts and still be aware of your surroundings.  Of course, it is easier said than done!

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